Splitting machine



Dec. 29, 1942.

c E. HOOD SPLITTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 17, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 29, 1942.

c. E. HOOD SPLITTING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 17, 1941 Dec. 29, 1942. c. E. HOOD SPLIT'IING MACHINE Filed Sept. 17. 194],

4 She'et's-Sheet 3 surface of the grain side of the work.

. throughout.

STATES, PATEN OFFICE :sPrJ'r'rrNc MACHINE Charles E. Hood; L'ynn, Mass, assignor to Ilnited Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J a corporation oflNcw Jersey H Application anemia 17, 1941, Serial No. 11,216

10 "Cains.

This invention relates vtosplitting machines and is herein illustrated as embodiedinfamachine particularly adapted to the splitting, of fsoles which are tob'e used in the manufacture of boots and shoes. *5

In the manufacture of boots and shoes it is usual tocut out soles from a hide by 'meansjof a die; and, inasmuch as the thickness of, arhide varies in different portions, the individual soles out therefrom are frequently not of the same thickness throughout their extent. It is cus- .tomary to even'the soles before incorporating them in shoes by removing a split from theflesh side ofeach. To this'end the died out soles, are sorted into groups the members of which have approximately the same thickness; and the'nthe soles of each group are "operated upon by a'splitting machine which is adjusted in accordance with the desired thickness to which the members of each group are to be evened. 1

Commonly splitting or evening machines used "for the above purpose comprise a stationaryknife to which the soles are fed by two cylindrical rolls. In such machines the edge of. the'knife must be spaced somewhat from the bite of the rolls so that there is no support for the portion ofthe work from the bite of the rolls to the edge of the knife, with the result that the splitting cut,

particularly during itsffirst part, is liable to diverge from' the desired parallel relation to the The present invention provides a machine which will rapidly and accurately split oreven soles or similar pieces of work so as to produce a finished product which is of'uniform thickness To this end the machine comprises a knife, a turret upon which pieces of work may be placed, a conical roll'which cooperates with'the turret, and means for rotating the roll and" turret in such manner that their surface speeds at the localities in which they cooperate are substantially the same; and preferably the roll is slotted, and through these slots the operative portions of presser fingers extend into close proximity to the knife: In' the illustrated machine the turret is adjustable toward and from the knife to determine the thickness to which the work shall be split; and the roll is mounted for bodily movement toward and from the turret and .for endwise tilting movement so as to provide-for thicker and thinner pieces ofwork as well as for those which vary in thickness from one edge to the opposite edge. g

These and otherfeatures of the invention including certain details of construction and com binations of parts will be described as embodied in an illustrated "machine and pointed out in the'appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a frontelevation of a machine in which the present invention is embodied, the upper portions of the presser fingers'and their support having been omitted;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 3 is a cross-section on the line III, III of Fig. 2, certainparts including the roll and its shaft being shown in full lines; 1

Fig. 4 is a detail principally in longitudinal section and on a greatly enlarged scale showing the "manner" in which thework is operated upon; and

5 is cross-section on the line v.-vof Fig.4.-= l.

per surface of the turret said under sidebeing inclined at an angle of two or three degrees to the horizontal, a presser roll l3, and a series of presser fingers one of whichis shown at 15. In the operationof the machine, the turret and the presser roll are rotated continuously; and the soles'are placed one by one upon the turret and are split to aneven thickness as indicated in the The turret 1 (Fig. 3) has magi-a1 with it and located below it a large gear I! the hub of which is rotatably mounted on an upright rod l9. This rod isone .ofthree upright rods, the 'other two being indicated respectively at 2! and '23 (Fig. 2). The lower ends of these rods, which have threaded portions of reduced diameter,- are fastened to a plate 25, which is part of the frame up through boresin a heavy plate 29 and have nuts 3| threaded upon them. The rods thus support the heavy plate :29 spaced considerably above the turret 1. This plate 29, the function of which is to support the presser roll 9 and the presser fingers, is thus a part of the frame of the machine I J p V The large gear H, which is rotatable on-the upright rod I9, is also vertically adjustable upon said rod. in order to provide for adjustment of the gear and turret vertically on the red, the

gear is supported on two sets of rolls which may be raised and lowered. Fastened by screw bolts to the plate 25 are two wedge-shaped members, the forward one being shown at 33 (Fig. l) the rear one at 35 (Fig. 3) and both being shown in Fig. 2. Slidably mounted on these wedgeshaped members are two roll supports 31, 39,

ment of the presser roll so as to support the corresponding portion of the: turret soles are fed successively past the presserfgflngers to the knife. The other roll support 39 carries two rolls at (Fig. 1) and 4! (Fig. 3) one on each side of the upright rod I9. These supports 31. and 39 are adjusted simultaneously and. held in adjusted position by turning? a screw 49 which is-threaded through a bore in a depending portion of the support 31 and has at one end amend-1101a, said screw being rotatable in but held from longitudinal movement with respect to a small bracket 5i which is fastened by screw bolts to the stationary plate 25. i

The presser roll I3 (Figs. 3 and 5) is of frustoconical shape and consists of a hub having integral with it thin, spaced, toothed, disk-like workengaging members of graduated diameter. This hub is fastened to an inclined shaft 53 which is rotatably mounted in a roll carrier 55, the construction being such that the lowermost elements of the disk-likework-eng'ag'ing members he in a plane parallel to the work-supporting face of the turret 1, and the axis of the roll shaft 53 intersects this plane at a point which lies in the axis of the rod I9 about which the turret rotates, said plane being substantially coextensive with the upper surface of thework as it is engaged by the roll and the'turret. The roll carrier is capable of swinging about the axis of a stud 51 and is so mounted, as will presently be explained, that it 1 may be adjusted bodily in a vertical path as well as angularly about the axis of the stud 51. A compression spring 59 exerts a continuous downward pressure upon the roll carrier. This spring extends between a cup-shaped washer 6 I which has :1.

up and down about the axis of a horizontal stud 'I'I fastened by a screw bolt 13 in a bore near one end of the arm, said stud II being rotatable in a bore in a bracket I5 which depends from near one end of the heavy plate 29 and is fastened to said plate by a screw bolt H. is similarly mounted for vertical swinging movement at the other end of the'heavy plate 29 in position to engage the smaller right-hand end of the roll carrier 55 so as to guide the carrier vertically in its swinging movement about the axis Another arm 19 (Fig. 3)

of the stud 51. In order so to guide the carrier, the free end of the short heavy arm 19 has a vertical slot 8| in which the smaller end of the roll carrier 55 has a sliding fit. The two short heavy arms 69, I9 are both shown in Fig. l, the arm I9 being angularly adjustable about the axis of a short stub 83 which is alined with the short stud II and. is rotatable in a bracket 85 which corresponds to the bracket 15, the stud being fastened in the bore of the arm 19 by a screw bolt 81. The two arms 69, I9 are connected by a horizontal bar, not shown, which extends across the machine.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 2, the roll carrier 55 adjacent to the higher end of the inclined roll-shaft 53 has depending from it an eye having a horizontal bore to receive the stud 51 and has extending from its left-hand side a projection formed with a horizontal'bore in which is rotatably mounted a short horizontal shaft 99 carryi'ng'at its right-hand end a beveled gear 9I which meshes with a beveled gear 93 on the higher end of the inclined shaft 53 of the presser roll.

It: isnecessaryto limit the downward movement of the presser roll so that the roll will never hit the knife, as well as to permit the roll to be adjusted angularly to line up its lower element parallel with the edge of the knife, and also to permit the'roll to tilt lengthwise in response to soles of non-uniform thickness. To this end two small rods 95, 91 (Figs. 1 and 2) are provided, one near each end of the roll carrier 55. Since these rods and their mountings and connections are substantially the same, only one will be described indetail. The upper end of the rod 91 (Fig. 2) extends loosely through a conical hole 99 in the over hanging portion of a small bracket IOI which is fastened upon the heavy plate 29. The small rod may be adjusted vertically and held in adjusted position by manipulating nuts I02 threaded on its upper end. The lower end of the rod 91 has an eye to receive a pin I03 which is driven into the side of the roll carrier 55 near one end of said carrier. The other rod 95, near the other end of the carrier, is shown in Fig. 1, the pin I05 corresponding to the pin I03, and the nuts I04 corresponding to the nuts I02. With this construction the roll carrier may be adjusted vertically and angularly to cause the lower element of the conical presser roll to lie parallel to and spaced slightly from the knife. At the same time the roll may yield bodily upward and tilt about the axis of the I stud 51.

The presser fingers i5 (Figs. 1 and 2) are mounted for angular movement about a horizontal rod I01 carried by a finger-support which is located above the turret I. This support comprises two spaced, fiat bars I09, I I0 having respectively near their middle portions fiat horizontal projections III, II3 through which and through horizontal ears on the heavy plate 29 pass respectively screw bolts I I5, I I I. Fastened by four screw bolts I I9 to the outside of the upper ends of the two spaced bars I09, H0 is a plate I2I; and fixed in spaced parallel relation to this plate is a second plate I23. A long cap plate I25 is fastened across the top of the inclined bars I09, I I0 by screw bolts I21. The inner face of the plate I 2| is provided with a plurality of staggered sockets, one for each presser finger. The plate I23 is provided with a plurality of staggered holes each of which registers with a socket in the plate I2l. Slidable through these holes are a plurality of pins I29 each having a collar near its outer end; and; between these collars and the bottoms of the sockets, are a plurality of small compression springs I 3I.

Each upwardly extending tail of a presser finger I has a projection which contacts with the inner end of one of the pins 629, and each upwardly extending tail near its upper end is received in a guide slot, not shown, in the approximately horizontal part of an angle iron I33, the approximately upright part of which is fastened to the bars I09, I ill by screw bolts one of which is shown at I35. The knife 9 (Figs. 2 and 3) is fastened at the bottom of downwardly extending hollow bosses on the heavy plate 29 by means of bolts I31 the lower reduced ends of which are threaded into the knife, and the upper ends of which carry nuts I39.

The large gear I! (Fig. 2) meshes with a small gear I4I rotatable about an upright stud I43 and having rigid withit a bevel gear I45. This bevel gear meshes with a second bevel gear I45 at the right-hand end of a driving shaft I41 which may be rotated from any suitable source of power. Also fast to the shaft I4! is a gear I49 which meshes with an idle gear I5 I said idle gear meshing in turn with a gear I53 on a shaft I55. The shaft I55 is connected with the shaft 89 by two universal joints I51, I 59 and a two-part telescopic shaft IfiI. The gears are so proportioned and the shape of the presser roll is such that the surface speed of the turret at any given locality is the same as that of the conical feed roll at the corresponding locality.

In the use of the machine, the turret is adjusted, by turning the hand wheel 49, into the desired position with respect to the knife; and the roll is adjusted bodily and angularly by turning the nuts I02, I94 until its lower work-engag- 2:

ing portion is parallel to the edge of the knife 9 as shown in Fig. 5. Thereafter, power having been applied to the driving shaft I41 to rotate the turret and the roll, the soles are placed upon the rotating turret and split to a predetermined uniform thickness.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A splitting machine having in combination,

a knife, a work support in the form of a turret, a cooperating conical roll, and means for rotating the roll and turret in such manner that the surface speeds of said members in the localities in which they cooperate are substantially the same.

2. A splitting machine having in combination, a knife, a work support in the form of a turret, a cooperating conical roll the axis of rotation of which intersects the axis of rotation of the turret at a point located in a plane which is substantially coextensive with the upper surface of the work as it is engaged by the roll and turret, and means for rotating the roll and turret in such manner that the surface speeds of said members in the localities in which they cooperate are substantially the same.

3. A splitting machine having in combination, a work support in the form of a turret, a cooperating conical roll the axis of which is located in a plane perpendicular to the work-supporting face of the turret, means for rotating the roll and turret in such manner that their surface speeds in the localities in which they cooperate are substantially the same, a stationary knife the edge of which is located back of said perpendicular plane'considered in the direction of feed movement, said roll having spaced annular channels in its periphery, and a plurality of yielding presser fingers having operative ends extending through said channels and into close proximity to the edge of the knife.

4. A splitting machine having in combination, a knife, a work support in the form of a turret, a cooperating conical roll, and means for rotating the roll and turret, said turret being adjustable toward and from the plane of the knife.

5. A splitting machine having in combination, a knife, a work support in the form of a turret, a cooperating conical roll, means for rotating the roll and turret, a support for the turret including a member engaging the under side of the turret in position to support it against the thrust of the roll as it presses upon a piece of work, and means whereby the support may be adjusted to adjust the turret toward and from the plane of the knife.

6. A splitting machine having in combination, a knife, a work support in the form of a turret, a cooperating conical roll, means for rotating the roll and turret, a support for the turret including alined supporting rolls engaging the under side of the turret in position to support it against the thrust of the roll asit presses upon a piece of work, and means whereby the support may be adjusted to adjust the turret toward and from the plane of the knife.

7. A splitting machine having in combination a knife, awork support inv the form of a turret, a cooperating conical roll, means for rotating the roll and turret in such manner that the surface speeds of said members in the localities in which they cooperate are substantially the same, and means for adjusting the turret toward and from the plane of the knife, said means including a support for the turret and an inclined guide upon which the support is slidably mounted.

8. A splitting machine having in combination a knife, a work support in the form of a turret, a cooperating conical roll, and means for rotating said turret and roll, said roll being yieldingly mounted for bodily movement toward and from the turret and for angular movement about an axis which is substantially parallel to the surface of the turret.

9. A splitting machine having in combination a knife, a work support in the form of a turret, a cooperating conical roll, means for rotating said turret and roll, a carrier for the roll, a pivot about which the carrier may swing to permit endwise tilting of the roll, said carrier and pivot being movable in unison toward and from the turret, and yielding means against the force of which the roll may thus tilt endwise or move bodily.

10. A splitting machine having in combination, a knife, a work support in the form of a turret, a cooperating conical roll, means for rotating said turret and roll, a carrier for the roll, a pivot about which the carrier may swing to permit endwise tilting of the roll, said pivot extending crosswise of the roll, an arm by which the pivot is carried, said arm being substantially at right angles to the pivot so that the pivot may move bodily toward and from the turret, yielding means tending at all times both to move the roll carrier bodily toward the turret and to swing said carrier about said pivot, and means for limiting the extent of the bodily and swinging movements.

CHARLES E. I-IOOD. 

